Selfless Love

Dear Ella,

Today I witnessed you engage in your (what I've seen) first selfless act without being prompted. I almost cried. You held the beauty of a thousand princesses at this very moment.

We were outside for a walk today. Just the two of us. We couldn't find your hats before leaving so I had you wear mine. You thanked me...for letting you wear my hat. Of course, what was the alternative? It was SO windy and cold out.

As we walked down the sidewalk I turned my back to the wind and walked backwards, facing you. As I put my hood up to keep the wind off my head, you so sweetly said, "You want your hat, mom?", and you began taking it off your own head. Darling girl, you break my heart with your tender, sweet soul every single day; but, today you tipped the scale. You are a truly beautiful daughter of God.

And...I love you.
Mom

Home Depot

Dear Ella,

You and Daddy share a very special time together the first Saturday of each month. Project time at Home Depot. You are so proud of your work and are becoming quite handy with a hammer:). You both love the time together.

Get ready

GO

Abby was there with her daddy too!

Home Depot Chick!

Flying a kite...and hanging with brother!

Dear Ella,

You flew your first kite. You are such a quick learning at most everything, but the way you picked this up really impressed me. I mean, look at you lounging while you fly. So cool.

Monday afternoon tradition

August 2013

Jude Elliot

Dear Ella,

Your brother has arrived. From this point forward, you will be learning to share. Share mommy, daddy, grandparents, your old room, and even this site. We will do our best  to raise you feeling loved like an only child; but, we know we might mess up sometimes. If you every feel ignored, or less-loved, or like you've been replaced, you couldn't be more wrong. You are already a wonderful big sister and will always be our first baby. Here are some sweet moment we'd like to always remember....

Hospital visit

first pictures

meeting Jude!

Gma Lisa holding Jude for the first time

at home

so fun having a sleepy brother

first trip to the zoo

shopping!

Sick days

Dear Baby, 

You don't feel well. A low fever turned into a pretty big prickly rash. I love snuggling with you but really hope you are feeling better by the time your brother arrives. 

sleepy

Not too sick for a bath time pose

So much better and ready for brother! 

Iowa Summer

Dear Ella,

We drove to Iowa in late June for one last 'hurrah' before your brother was born. We had a very full week of visiting and spending time with family. You adored all of the cousin time and it made me a little sad that we don't live closer so that we could spend every weekend with them.

Cuddles with Noah

Cousin time

Time at Great Grandma and Grandpa's

Wheelbarrow Rides with Talon

Des Moines Farmer's Market with the Van Winkles

Sophia and Ella!

pool babies

Riding the Gator at the Eighmy's (Isaac, Noah, Jacob, Ella, Talon)

Ladder Ball

Poolside 

Baby Noah

Cousins

Bridal Shower for Susan

Forced to Simplify

Two things come to mind when I think about common household items that I never thought I could live without, that we currently live without.

One: A television.

Two: A blender.

The television we previously had was loaned to us by Caleb's sister, Beth, while she was at school in Australia. So, when she graduated and moved back to Colorado, we happily returned it to her. Honestly, the only time I miss the TV is at 6:00 am when it would just be so easy to flip on PBS Kids. Thank goodness we can stream some of the shows online;)

The blender was my choice. I sold our blender half a
year ago to put $ towards  a juicer. We ended up having a juicer given to us and just haven't replaced the blender. There are few moments that I miss it. Today, I am thankful we don't have a blender. I think I just made the most delicious hand-made peach shake that I've ever had. No noisy machine required for these three ingredients: mashed peaches, ice cream, and vanilla.

As you can tell, I forgot to take the picture before eating half of it.